The Birth of a Wonderful Man

Over 30 years ago, I married a wonderful man. I called him my Sugar Bear. He was a bear of a guy but was so very sweet and kind to me.
I was a divorced woman in my 30s with three children under 12.
He had two children under five. We probably came together for the wrong reasons. I needed a daddy for my children and he needed a mom for his children and we enjoyed each other's company. That is not quite enough for a good marriage, but Ray was tenacious. When I as a wounded woman would push him away, because I knew that he was going to leave me or abuse me like everyone before him had, he never insisted that I respond differently. He just loved me right where I was. Often that place was a miry pit of self-pity that I refused to leave.
I remember once about the end of the first year of our marriage when we went to Marriage Encounter. The priest told me, Diane, there is no reason in the world why this marriage should work except that Ray is not going to give up on you. He is giving you the same kind of love that your heavenly Father has been trying to give you. It is time for you to receive it.
Something broke that night.
Walls from years of protecting myself came tumbling down. I wish I could tell you that immediately we lived happily ever after, but that is not so. I laugh now and say that the first year of our marriage, he re-wrote The Taming of the Shrew. My programmed self-hatred, made it a bumpy road, but the good news is we stayed on the road.
By trade he is a professional driver and in our marriage he has been a professional driver driving us through life's mountains and valleys from Florida to Texas to Africa and Georgia with an awesome second honeymoon in Ireland.
Today is Ray's birthday and I praise God he was born! I am a blessed woman to have him in my life. Happy Birthday, Baby.